Bucket of Berries

In this ongoing blog series, Christine, a budget-minded first-time Mom and Team Member, explores ways to create healthy, organic foods that appeal to both baby and husband. See other posts on making vegetable soup out of a pea base, a carrot ginger soup from locally grown carrots, finger foods, zucchini pesto and a green smoothie. In the summertime, nothing is more glorious than eating fresh berries. I live in Michigan where the berries are bountiful. At my house, we eat berries all day long. They are a satisfying and healthy snack. Berries taste great tossed in yogurt at breakfast and placed on top of salad greens for lunch and dinner. Blueberries, blackberries and sliced strawberries are among my 14-month-old son’s favorite finger foods. One day my family went berry-picking at a local organic farm and we came home with a bucket of ripe blueberries. Staring at the large bucket, I became inspired to create a light dessert. I took an old family recipe from my Mom and made a few adjustments by creating a fruit puree for my toddler and a fruit cobbler for my husband. The result was delicious. I used blueberries for my dessert, but you can substitute other berries or even apples, cherries or peaches to create your own tasty dish. For the baby fruit puree:

First, I make a simple and healthy fruit puree for the baby. Place the berries and water into a blender and process until smooth. The timing is different on all blenders, so check it yourself before setting it aside in the refrigerator for the baby. That was easy. Now it’s time to make the dessert for my husband. Place the flour, baking powder and ¼ cup of the sugar together in a large bowl. Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the milk and stir the mixture until it becomes a uniform batter. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Put the butter in an 8x8 baking dish. Once the oven is warm, place the baking dish in the oven. Keep the dish in the oven for a couple of minutes, until the butter has fully melted. At this point, pour the batter over the butter, but do not stir it. In order to get the right texture for this cobbler, it’s important not to stir it. Then add your berries by placing them on top of the batter. You can use fresh berries or frozen ones, either works just fine in this recipe. Again, do not stir. Then, sprinkle the dessert with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. That’s it. Place the baking dish back into the oven for 20-30 minutes until the top of the dessert is lightly brown. Once the dessert is ready, serve the fruit puree cold and the cobbler warm (either straight from the oven or heated in the microwave later). This dessert tastes nice with a little bit of yogurt on top. Milk, ice cream or a whipped topping will do, too. I must say that this is a new family favorite. My son gave me a big, blue smile (with berries smeared across his face). And my husband asked if we could eat this dessert every night. I went to bed happy that night knowing that I now have a delicious recipe that is simple to make, within my budget and absolutely glorious to eat. Berries, oh berries!

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Welcome to Whole Story, the official blog of Whole Foods Market.

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